Eliades Ochoa and América Valdés sing "Dos Gardenias"

December 31, 2020

América Valdés, daughter of Cuban comedian Alexis Valdés, performs the emblematic bolero "Dos gardenias" alongside Eliades Ochoa in a music video that is available on several platforms.

The young woman had already sung the song on one occasion with the Santiago musician, when he visited Miami in 2018, impressing her followers with the voice and flamenco style she brought to her performance.

América explains the making of the clip on YouTube: "I'm sharing our quarantine project with you. We recorded the song 2 years ago, when Eliades and I met in Miami. One day locked at home, I decided to re-record my voice," explained the young woman. "They recorded Eliades playing in Cuba and I recorded myself in my Miami backyard. And with the support of our Cuban friends and family we created this project. I put my whole heart into creating the video, the cover, and much more," she said. "I hope you feel my love through the screen. Thank you to our beautiful island for creating beings with so much art so we can have these moments," she added.

In this way, what began as an improvisation at an informal jam session between friends took on another form. Acosta was visiting the city known as the City of the Sun at the time to present at the Miami Film Festival the documentary Eliades Ochoa: from Cuba to the world, by American filmmaker Cynthia Biestek.

The bolero "Dos gardenias" was written in 1945 by Cuban composer and pianist Isolina Carrillo. However, it reached the peak of international fame in 1996, transcending the Spanish-speaking world, when the legendary Omara Portuondo and Ibrahim Ferrer performed it with Buena Vista Social Club.

América Valdés is the result of the relationship between the Cuban artist and Spanish actress of Chilean origin Paulina Gálvez, from whom he divorced in 2009 and with whom he also has a son named Leonardo.